Swivel tilting chair



Jan. 3, 1956 Filed Sept. 16. 1953 E. F. HAMILTON ET AL SWIVEL TILTING CHAIR 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 lllll ll Y mmnfil'lnnurou,

3, 1956 E. F. HAMILTON EIAL 2,729,273

SWIVEL TILTING CHAIR Filed Sept. 16, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TORS 59E; Flinn/z ran awzd xagmw 14 T TORIYEKS.

1956 E. F. HAMILTON ET AL 2,729,273

SWIVEL TILTING CHAIR Filed Sept. 16, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V EN T 0R5 5m; f. 199m: To and BY Way/m5. H/mu 7-0/5 United States Patent SWIVEL TILTING CHAIR Earl F. Hamilton and William S. Hamilton,

a Columbus, Ind.

Application September 16, 1953, Serial No. 380,459 13 Claims. (Cl. 155-77) This invention relates to oflice chairs and the like, and it is an object herein to improve, simplify, and reduce the cost of manufacture of this type of chair. Another object is to provide such a chair having more desirable characteristics for lessening of fatigue of the user. A further object is to provide such a chair of sturdy characteristics and made largely of economical sheet-metal. A still further object is the provision of a chair so constructed and arranged that the user may selectively cause the back or seat to tilt alternatively or concurrently, such selectivity being eiiectable by the posture and body movements of the user, without requiring manual adjustment of control elements, but having control elements adapted to vary the range and responsiveness of the reclining means. It is an additional object of our invention to provide improved means for supporting a chair seat for tilting movement. Other objects will appear as the description is understood.

in carrying out our invention in a preferred embodiment, we afiix to the forward portion of the bottom of a chair seat a pair of transversely aligned brackets adapted to pivotally receive the forward ends of a pair of back-supporting members. The pivot members effecting such connection desirably comprise wire clips shown and described in the co-pending application of James A. Heavern, Serial No. 449,369, filed August 12, 1954. From such pivotal connection, the back-support members run horizontally rearwardly under the seat and thence upwardly to carry the back pad. At a point spaced rearwardly from the brackets, the horizontal portions of the back-support are interconnected by a bridge member pro vided with openings in which said horizontal portions are slidably received. Spring means, preferably adjustable, operates between the seat and the bridge member to oppose rearward tilting of the back-support about the pivot members. Such is a so-called tilt-back feature, and is more fully shown and described in the co-pending application of Bertis F. Hamilton, Serial No. 247,969, filed September 24, 1951. Co-operating therewith is a tilt-seat feature of the general type shown in the copending application of Bertis F. Hamilton, Serial-No. 280,499, filed April 4, 1952, now Patent No. 2,687,166, granted August 24, 1954, wherein the seat is supported both forwardly and rearwardly of its center by a supporting bracket which in turn is swivelly supported by the base-rod of the chair, with adjustable spring means for biasing the forward portion of the seat onto such bracket to yieldingly resist seat-tilt. .The rear support for the seat comprises a horizontal, transverse stretch of round metal tubing, the ends of which are bent upwardly and are attached to the seat and the intermediate portion of which is disposed parallel to but spaced from the seat to serve in the manner of a hinge pin. Rearwardly-directed integral extensions of each member of the supporting bracket are formed in complementary arcs which cooperate to form a sleeve which rotatably 'receives the metal tubing.

The accompanying drawings illustrate our invention:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section through a seat embody ing our invention;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the seat of Fig. 1, and taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; i

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken on the lines 3-3 of Fig. 1 and Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view'similar to Fig. 1, but showing the parts in a position wherein the seat and back are tilting as a unit;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing the back tilting independently of the seat; 7

Figs. 6 and 7 are isometric views of the bracket-members;

Fig. 8 is a section taken on the lines 8-8 of Fig. 1 and Fig. 2; I V

Fig. 9 is an isometric view showing preferred pivot means supporting the back from the seat; and

Fig. 10 is a horizontal section taken through the structure illustrated in Fig. 9. V Y

The chair shown in the drawings comprises a base 10 from which extends a vertical seat-supporting rod 12, the vertical adjustment of such rod being conveniently obtained by use of a lock plate mechanism'14, more fully shown and described in the co-pending application of Bertis F. Hamilton, Serial No. 175,603, filed March 30, 1950, now Patent No. 2,673,690, granted March 30, 1954. A seat 16, which is rotatably mounted on the upper end of the rod 12, comprises a seat-pan 17, desirably in the form of a sheet-metal stamping which serves as the structural frame for the seat. Support for the seat pan is efiected in a manner yet to be described through the medium of a bracket comprising upper and lower mem bers 18 and 20 respectively. These members 18 and 20 .are desirably of relatively heavy sheet metal, and the member 20 is formed in a U-shape to provide a bottom web 22 well spaced from the upper bracket. The upper ends of the legs of the member 20 are turned outwardly to form lips 24 secured to the lower surface of the upper bracket member 18 as by rivets 26. The upper and lower bracket members 18 and 20 are provided with vertically aligned openings which receive the upper end of the rod 12, and between such two bracket members there lies a thrust collar 28 secured to the rod 12 as by means of a transverse pin or rivet 30. To provide a more effective bearing and support on the rod 12, the upper and lower bracket members 18 and 20 may be formed to receive flanged bushings 32 having press fits in the bracket-openings.

A length of metal tubing 40 extends transversely parallel to but spaced below the seat-pan 17, and has its ends 42 flattened and bent upwardly for connection to the seatpan as by rivets 44. The connection of the seat-pan 17 to the bracket 18-20 is through this tubing 40, and is eflt'ected by providing the rear of the bracket-members 18-20 with integral portions extending rearwardly in opposed arcs 46-48 to define, when the members 18-20 are clamped together as by the rivets 26, a transversely extending horizontal sleeve which rotatably receives the tubing 40. As is most clear in Fig. 8, transverse movement of the seat and tubing relative to the bracket-members 18-20 is prevented by providing that the tubing 40 is up-turned immediately transversely outward of the arcs 46-48.

Opposing rearward tilting of the seat 16 about the axis of the tubing 40 is a compression spring 50 which acts between a forward extension 52 of the upper bracket member 18 and a nut 54 mounted on the threaded lower end of a bolt 56 the head end of which is disposed over the seat-pan 17. Forward swinging movement of the seat under the influence of the spring 50 may be limited by a stop screw 60 screW-threadedly supported from the 3 bracket-member extension 52 in position -to engage the seat-pan 17 near the front edge thereof.

The seat-pan 17 also carries a pair of transversely spaced brackets -64 having transversely'extending aligned sets of openings 60 forpivotally connecting-'to'thebrackets 64 the forwardstretches of 'a' pair'of'parallel=backsupporting members 66. *Desirably,the'hinge-pins 68'for these connections areprovidedby'wire clips '70 more'fully shown and described in the co-pending application of "Ja'mes'A. Heavern, Serial No. 449,369, filed August 12, "1954. Eachclip 70 isformed from a'single length of stiff wire, and comprises a hinge-pin portion 68 from an end of which integrally extends an arm 72'which carries a hook-portion 74'for holdingtheclip injplace by embraceofthe back-supporting'member 66. Association of the clips 70 in selected pairs of the bracket-openings "60- provides fore-an'd-aft adjustment of the back with respect to the seat. Etfective to yieldingly resist-back-tilt abciutthe axis of clips 70 are spring means acting on a bridge member80 which extends between and interconnects the horizontal portions 66 of the back-support. Conveniently, the bridge member 80 is formed as a sheet-metal stamping of inverted channel-shaped crosssection, the flanges of the channel being provided with "aligned, flanged holes in which the horizontal portions 66'of the back-support are slidable. Between the two horizontal portions66, the pan 17 and the web of the bridge member 80 are provided with aligned holes which receive a bolt 82 extending downwardly between and "beyondthe flanges of the'bridge member where it is provided with an adjustable nut 84. A compression spring 86surrounding thebolt 82 and acting between the'nut "84 'andthe bridge member opposes rearwardswinging of "the back-support from a normal position which may be determined by the thickness ofa washer 88 inserted between'the bridge member 80 and the seat-pan 17. Conveniently, the material of the seat-pan'is offset downwardly as-indicated at 90 to provide a recess for reception of the head of the bolt 82.

A person using a chair so constructed can,'by varying his posture and position on the chair, cause the back to recline with respect to the seat, and the bridge-spring resiliently resists such reclination and givessupport to the occupants 'back. Or, if the occupant desires, he may so exert bodily pressure that'in addition to the tilt back movement, an action is obtained whereby the back and seat each recline, the front spring and the bridge spring acting in series to give yielding support to the occupant. By appropriate adjustment of the nuts 54 and 84 seattilting and back-tilting can be controlled through a wide range.

This construction also provides advantages of economical standardized production, for by'the simple expedient of-'replacing the spring of either or both of the tilt-seat feature or of the'tilt-back feature with a'simple bolt, a manufacturer can fabricate with but one set of dies a tilt-back chair, a tilt-seat chair, or a chair possessing both capabilities.

'While we have shown and described a specific embodiment of our invention, we intend to cover all changes and modifications of the example herein chosen for the purpose of disclosure which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope'of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a swivel chair, a seat, a base having an upwardly projectingseat-supporting rod, a bracket comprising two rigidly interconnectedsheet-metal members having horizontal, vertically spaced portions provided with aligned openings rotatably receiving-said rod, means including arr-abutment secured in fixed axial position to said rod -to support the bracket infixed-vertical position von the '-'rod,-'a lengthof metal tubing transverselysextending:along "the bottomof'said seat and attached thereto, said bracketmembers being provided with integral extensions formed -in complementary arcs which when juxtaposed form a sleeve rotatably receiving said tubing and supporting said seat.

2. In a swivel chair, a seat, a base having an upwardly projecting seat-supporting rod, a bracket comprising two rigidly interconnected sheet-metal members having horizontal, vertically spaced portions provided with aligned openings rotatably receiving said rod, means including an abutment secured in fixed axial position to said rod to support the bracket fixed vertical position on the rod, a length of metal tubing transversely extending alongthe bottom of said seat and attached thereto, said bracket-members being provided with integral extensions rearwardly of-said'bra'cket openings and formed in complementary arcs which when juxtaposed form a sleeve rotatably receiving said tubing and supporting said seat.

3. In a swivel chair, a seat, a base having an upwardly projectingseat=supporting rod, a'bracket comprising two rigidly-interconnected sheet-metal members having horizontal, vertically spaced portions provided with aligned openings rotatably receiving said rod, means supporting said bracket at desired elevation on said rod, a pivot member transversely extending along the bottom of said seat and attached thereto, said'bracket-members being provided with opposed integral extensions formed in complementary arcs which form a sleeve rotatably receiving said pivot-member and supporting'said seat.

4. In a swivel chair, a seat, a base having an upwardly projecting seat-supporting rod, a bracket comprising two rigidly interconnected sheet-metal members having horizontal, vertically spaced portions provided with aligned openings rotatably receiving said rod, means supporting said bracket at desired elevation on said rod, a pivotmember transversely extending along the'bottom of said seat and attached thereto, said bracket-members being provided with opposed integral extensions formed in complementary arcs which form a sleeve rotatably receiving said pivot-member and supporting said seat, said pivot-member being provided with up-bent portions immediately transversely outward of the bracket-sleeve to position said pivot-member along said bracket-sleeve.

5. In a swivel chair, a seat, a base havingan' upwardly projecting seat-supporting rod, a bracket comprising two rigidly interconnected sheet-metal members having horizontal, vertically spaced'portions provided with aligned openings rotatably receiving said rod, means supporting said bracket at desired elevation on said rod, a pivotmember transversely extending along the bottom of said seat and attached thereto, said bracket-members being provided with opposed integral extensions formed in complementary arcs which form a sleeve rotatably receiving said pivot-member and supporting said seat, said pivotmember being provided with upbent portions immediately transversely outward of the bracket-sleeve to position said pivot-member along said bracket-sleeve, and said up bent pivot-member portions being disposed upwardly and ending in ears by which the pivot-member is attached to the seat.

6. In a swivel chair, a seat, a base having an upwardly projecting seat-supporting rod, a bracket comprising two rigidly interconnected sheet-metal members having horizontal, vertically spaced portions provided with aligned openings rotatably receiving said rod, means including an abutment secured in fixed axial position to said rod to support the bracket in fixed vertical position on the rod, a length of metal tubing transversely extending along the bottom of saidseat and'attached thereto, said bracketmembers being provided with a sleeve rotatably supporting the tubing and said seat.

7. In a swivel chair, a seat, a base having an upwardly, projecting seat-supporting rod, a bracket comprising two rigidly interconnected sheet-metal members having horizontal, vertically spaced portions provided with aligned openings rotatably receiving said rod, one of the are.

bracket-members having an extension extending forwardly of the seat, means supporting said bracket at desired elevation on said rod, a pivot-member transversely ex.- tending along the bottom of said seat and attached thereto, said bracket-members being provided with opposed integral extensions formed in complementary arcs which form a sleeve rotatably receiving said pivot-member and supporting said seat, and means acting between said extension and said seat restraining tilting of said seat about said pivot-member.

8. A swivel chair, comprising in combination with a seat and a base having a vertical rod supporting said seat, a seat-supporting bracket rotatably carried by said rod and in fixed axial position thereon, said bracket including two rigidly interconnected sheet-metal members having horizontal, vertically spaced portions provided with aligned openings rotatably receiving said rod, a seatsupporting bar secured to the seat and extending transversely therebeneath, said bracket members having integral extensions of complementary shape clamped together in seat-supporting relationship with said bar.

9. A swivel chair, comprising in combination with a seat and a base having a vertical rod supporting said seat, a seat-supporting bracket rotatably carried by said rod and in fixed axial position thereon, a bar secured to said seat and extending transversely thereof, said bar having upwardly otfset end portions secured to said seat and an intermediate portion spaced downwardly from said seat, said bracket being formed of sheet metal and having opposed portions complementarily shaped and embracing said intermediate portion of said bar.

10. A swivel chair, comprising in combination with a seat and a base having a vertical rod supporting said seat, a seat-supporting bracket rotatably carried by said rod and in fixed axial position thereon, a tubular member having upwardly ofiset end portions secured to the underside of said seat and an intermediate portion spaced downwardly from and extending transversely of the seat, said bracket being formed of sheet metal and having opposed portions formed to embrace the intermediate portion of said tubular member, said bracket portions being engaged with the upwardly ofiset end portions of said tubular member to locate the seat transversely of itself relative to said bracket.

11. A swivel chair, comprising in combination with a seat and a base having a vertical rod supporting said seat, a seat-supporting bracket rotatably carried by said rod and in fixed axial position thereon, a bar secured to said seat and extending transversely thereof in a position offset from said rod, said bar having an intermediate portion of circular cross-section spaced downwardly from said seat, said bracket being formed of sheet metal and including opposed portions formed to embrace the intermediate portion of said bar, said bracket also including an arm projecting from said rod in a direction opposite to that in which said bar lies, and means acting between the seat and said arm for restraining rotation of said seat about the axis of said intermediate bar portion.

12. A swivel chair, comprising in combination with a seat and a base having a vertical rod supporting said seat, a seat-supporting bracket rotatably carried by said rod and in fixed axial position thereon, a bar secured to said seat and extending transversely thereof in a position ofiset from said rod, said bar having an intermediate portion of circular cross-section spaced downwardly from said seat, said bracket being formed of sheet metal and including opposed portions formed to embrace the intermediate portion of said bar, said bracket also including an arm projecting from said rod in a direction opposite to that in which said bar lies, and means acting between the seat and said arm for resiliently opposing rotation of said seat in one direction about the axis of said intermediate bar portion.

13. A swivel chair, comprising in combination with a seat and a base having a vertical rod supporting said seat, a seat-supporting bracket rotatably carried by said rod and in fixed axial position thereon, a bar secured to said seat and extending transversely thereof in a position olfset from said rod, said bar hav' g an intermediate portion of circular cross-section spaced downwardly from said seat, said bracket comprising upper and lower sheet-metal stampings having vertically spaced, horizontal body portions provided with aligned openings rotatably receiving said rod, said lower stamping having upwardly offset side portions secured to the upper stamping, both said stampings having rearwardly projecting portions complementarily shaped to embrace said intermediate bar-portion, said upper stamping having a forwardly projecting arm provided with an upwardly offset front end engaging said seat, and means acting between said seat and said arm for restraining rearward tilting of the seat about the axis of the intermediate portion of said bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 797,040 Adam Aug. 15, 1905 1,986,105 Foote Jan. 1, 1935 2,363,935 Boerner Nov. 28, 1944 

